


You're welcome

by Alice_huhhuhhhu



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Crack, Fluff, Gabriel Being Gabriel (Supernatural), Human Gabriel (Supernatural), Jack Kline Loves Nougat, M/M, Maybe a bit of romance, Not Sure How To tag this TBH, One Shot, School, Sick Sam Winchester, Teacher Gabriel (Supernatural), Teacher Sam Winchester, because I can't just not make it sabriel, teacher!au, up for interpretation I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24704035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_huhhuhhhu/pseuds/Alice_huhhuhhhu
Summary: Sam, a concerned literature teacher, is forced to call in sick. His colleague Gabriel is in charge of taking his place, much to the taller one's dismay.
Relationships: Gabriel & Sam Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	You're welcome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shaleschnueffler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaleschnueffler/gifts).



> I can't believe I actually made it in time, but here we are. Happy birthday, my friend!  
> I just had to make something, and I really wanted to catch up on one of our older ideas which have been collecting dust somewhere in the depths of our old texting conversations, and well… I remembered that idea we had about a Teacher!AU and so I decided to throw some of our ideas together and write this little thing. I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece, but I hope you enjoy anyway!

Tuesday. The most dreadful, abominable, terrible and, not to forget, the most _dangerous_ day of the week. It had only just begun, and already Sam hated the day for what else it would have in store. The slight headache he had woken up with had only grown stronger since he had left the bed, and not even a cup of strong coffee could improve his state. Still he prepared a scarce breakfast for himself, stuffed everything into the heavy leather bag and prepared for the upcoming day of work.

“Positive thoughts” he reminded himself, “positive thoughts, Sam.” Maybe his students wouldn’t screw up as much as they usually did. Maybe he would finish correcting the last exam in time to spend the lunch break at the teachers’ library. Maybe that annoying colleague would stay away from him today. These were the hopes and dreams of Sam Winchester, exhausted teacher of even more exhausted students, as he mentally prepared for the worst.

As things were looking now, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that this Tuesday would be a particularly horrible one.

He refused to let the dull ache in his head stop him from stepping in front of the mirror to button up his flannel shirt. There was no way in hell he would call in sick today. He never had, for a very good reason. Said reason had two legs, an obnoxiously laid-back personality and golden hair which always shone like a halo under the cheap headlights the school had plastered every classroom ceiling with.

Sam hated him with a passion for many reasons ranging from bad pranks on colleagues to the reputation he had, but his ultimate nightmare was to let that _Gabriel_ teach his students. “Teach”. The quotation marks his brain added to the thought were by no means overly dramatic. Gabriel was known to be the last person to qualify for the job as a teacher, and yet he had somehow managed to pass all the necessary exams and qualifications. How he had done it would forever be a mystery to Sam and his colleagues.

Even thinking about the guy gave Sam a nauseous feeling! Or perhaps for once this wasn’t entirely Gabriel’s fault. Some fresh air would make him feel better. Definitely.

When the floor seemed to tilt below his legs on the way towards the door, however, he was forced to accept that it just wasn’t meant to be. The heavy bag was thrown into a random corner with a loud thud as Sam braced himself on the doorframe until he felt safe enough to let go and retreat to the kitchen with slow, shuffling steps. Reaching for the phone on the counter as if it was his lifeline, he took a deep breath and hit the ‘call’ button.

The principal’s voice sounded annoyed but also somewhat surprised as he picked up on the other end. A few sentences later Sam was dismissed with a ‘get well soon’ and the more or less serious promise that his students would be taken care of. Sam knew exactly what that meant, but at the moment, he was too weak to object. His worst nightmare would come true. And he could only pray that Gabriel knew what he’d do to him if he found out he had messed up. For now, Sam let himself collapse on the couch in the living room, already asleep five minutes later .

“Are you the guys that I’m supposed to monitor in my colleague’s place?”

Twenty-two pairs of curious eyes stared at Gabriel for what seemed like an eternity before one of them found the courage to speak up. It was a young boy who somewhat reminded him of an adorable lost puppy, chewing on a nougat bar as if it was the best treat he’d ever had.

“If you mean Mr. Winchester, then yes. We’re his students, although he’s never been absent before.”

“ _Great_.”

Gabriel subtly rolled his eyes at the last part. He knew why Sam had never dared to call in sick before, and although he didn’t want to admit it, it angered him that the tall teacher didn’t seem to have the slightest bit of trust in his abilities. To be fair, neither had Gabriel himself, especially when his eyes landed on the pile of uncorrected exams resting on the table in front of him.

He hated the students, he hated the paperwork, and he slightly disliked his boss who insisted on being called Chuck and sometimes acted as if he was some kind of father figure. To make it short: Gabriel mostly hated his job. While he was still contemplating whether or not he should take this seriously, the class had started to whisper and mumble behind his back.

“Alright, listen up kiddos. Sammy -I mean Mr. Winchester, of course- won’t be here today. Which means that I’m in charge of you. They call me Gabriel. Let’s not do that last name thing everyone seems to be so fond of here, please.”

Questioning looks. A raised hand at the back of the class. It was the boy again, and by now he had finished his third piece of nougat. If he pulled out any more of these from his backpack Gabriel would need to confiscate it and maybe enjoy one or two himself. “Yes?”

“Mr. Gabriel, what exactly are you going to teach us? Are you continuing Mr. Winchester’s lecture about the evolution of literature throughout the sixteenth century?”

 _Oh dear._ Now Gabriel almost felt sorry for those bright young things in front of him. Holding up his hands in surrender, he shook his head, unable to conceal the small smile on his lips. Today, he would prove to these students- and to Sam as well- that he was the best teacher this school had to offer.

“No way. We’re doing music instead. Or art. Or… maybe a combination of both. You’ve got your phones with you, right?”

Collective nodding.

“Then go on and illegally stream some movies or whatever while I’ll grade these exams.”

The class cheered at this, and Gabriel noted with amusement how quickly the kids had set up their devices and plugged in headphones. Encouraged by their enthusiasm Gabriel settled down in his chair, feet comfortably resting on the desk, and picked up the first paper.

“Describe how literature has influenced the process of…” A sigh left his lips as he resisted the urge to immediately throw the whole pile of exams into the garbage container. Instead, he picked up a red pen and started scanning the answers one by one, surprised by how some students had actually managed to come up with decent explanations while others had obviously given up already at the first task. “Same here” he scribbled underneath a half-finished sentence which ended in three question marks, “Can relate” beside an unreadable mess of crossed-out words at the end of a page.

He was doing his job. He wasn’t doing it well, but he was doing something at least. When he compared his effort to that of his colleagues, he came to the conclusion that he was doing rather well.

The furious shouting of Lucifer, the Latin teacher everyone tried to avoid at all costs, was so loud that it was audible in the whole corridor. The politics teacher, Mr. Crowley, used his lessons to subtly promote dictatorship, and Miss MacLeod had made it a personal habit to make things explode in her chemistry lessons just because she had the ability to. Hell, the person who put the most effort into his job at this school was the poor cafeteria guy called Samandriel. The worst thing he had ever done was burn some cookies, and he had apologized a thousand times afterwards, nearly breaking down in tears.

So what if he gave everyone a good grade? These students had tried, at least, and Gabriel could understand why some of them would rather spend their free time with other things than learning for such a stupid exam.

By the end of the lesson, he had filled the blank spots on the white pages with red paragraphs of motivating comments and helpful messages like “don’t do drugs” or “please don’t become a teacher”. At the end of each exam, he had put his signature in big, bold letters, right below the “A” he had given everyone.

Satisfied with his work, Gabriel handed them back to the kids, watching how their faces lit up in excitement when they saw their results. Nobody dared to question the remarks Gabriel had written down instead of a serious correction, and when the bell rang, he said his goodbyes and disappeared, a smile on his lips. Maybe he should pay Samandriel a visit and see how his cookies were doing. He had earned himself a reward, after all.

Sam had just woken up from his nap on the couch and managed to force himself to digest a more or less acceptable lunch when the phone rang. The number on the display was unknown to him, so he picked up without much enthusiasm.

“Sam Winchester.”

“Hey Sam.”

“Gabriel?”

Sam had expected everything but for Gabriel to call him, of all people, and he braced himself for the worst. Maybe his colleague had messed up so horribly today that he actually wanted to apologize directly before he went back to school and found his students in the middle of a catastrophe which had somehow accidentally occurred while he hadn’t been there to-

“I just wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing” the voice on the other end inquired, and for now, Sam decided to trust the honest tone of concern in it.

“I’m managing, thank you for asking. How was work?”

“Nothing to worry about, Samsquatch. Your students are alive and safe, the building is still standing, and I’d almost say they like me. By the way, I’ve taken the liberty of grading those papers for you as well.”

Of course he would tease Sam, but the taller one hadn’t anticipated the slight feeling of guilt these words provoked. Maybe he had been too harsh with his colleague in the past. Sure, Gabriel drove him up the wall more often than not, but it had been genuinely nice of him to take over at work today, and apparently, _surprisingly_ , everything had gone well. Maybe it was time for him to trust the other teacher, no matter how odd his methods might appear.

“Gabriel?” Sam cleared his throat, buying his brain some time to reconsider what he was about to say. “Thank you.”

He could hear Gabriel snicker at the other end. “What was that, Sammy? I didn’t quite catch that, there must be something wrong with the connection…”

“You heard very well what I said!” Sam growled in annoyance, but decided to give in. “Thank you for taking my place today. And sorry I was kind of… prejudiced before.”

“You’re welcome.” And Sam could swear Gabriel was grinning like an idiot by now. He could imagine the smug look of pure triumph on the other one’s face, and he realized that he rather liked the thought of that.

Sam never found out about the “correction” of the exam. And after the honest words Gabriel had received that day, he hoped that his colleague never would. Perhaps he should annoy the tall teacher a bit less frequently from now on… or maybe he _shouldn’t_.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew. What can I say, with the current situation it comes close to a miracle that I've managed to finish this.  
> Now, you know what follows. A whole paragraph of my love and appreciation for you and everything you've done for me so far. Because you deserve it and I can't say it often enough.  
> The last year was full of surprises, good and bad ones equally, and I'm so happy you were by my side through all of it. I have no idea what kind of person I'd be without you, but I can say with certainty that I wouldn't even be half as happy, confident and motivated as I am now. Thank you for always encouraging and motivating me, helping me get back on my feet when I can't find the strength to do it on my own. Thank you for being my family, my friend and fellow weirdo.  
> You can make me laugh, you can make my cry tears of joy. I'm so endlessly grateful for everything we've shared: stories, secrets, interests, fandoms, a brain… you get what I'm trying to say. I'll make sure to at least try to repay you for all of it in the future, because you deserve the world.  
> I'm trying to keep it short, but there's one thing left to say:  
> Thank you for the road so far, I'm curious to find out where it takes us. I'll gladly let you pick the music and shut my cakehole on this ride.  
> If there's anything I can do for you, let me know and consider it done. Anytime. I'll be here for you.


End file.
